Virgin Voyages is targeting a new type of traveler: remote workers.
In March, the Miami-based cruise line owned by Sir Richard Branson launched a month-long cruise called the Scarlet Summer Season Pass. These are essentially four week-long cruises grouped together to appeal to remote workers who want to spend a month at sea in southern Europe.
“People have really embraced the flexible working style, and that resonates with travelers,” Nirmal Saverimuttu, CEO of Virgin Voyages, told CNBC Travel. “A lot of people said it was an incredible value.”
The Scarlet Summer Season Pass covers two people and costs $9,990. Rate includes room, meals, group fitness classes, and Wi-Fi, plus laundry services, daily coffee and tea credits, and access to workspaces.
Booking the “Season Pass” is 30% cheaper than booking four consecutive week-long cruises, according to the Virgin website. Travelers can also swap travel companions for different legs of the cruise, Saverimuttu said, as long as they are 18 years or older, in line with Virgin Voyages’ adults-only policy.
Within 24 hours of the Season Pass announcement, more than 2,000 people expressed interest, Saverimuttu said. When reservations opened, seats for the monthlong cruise — which stops in places like Cannes, Rome and Ibiza — sold out within 48 hours, a company representative told CNBC Travel.
That prompted Virgin Voyages to open additional spots for remote workers on a second cruise ship this summer.
The “Season Pass” cruises will sail on Virgin’s Scarlet Lady and Resilient Lady ships, each of which can accommodate approximately 2,700 guests. The cruises are scheduled from June to September this year.
“One of Richard’s ideas”
The popularity of Virgin’s Season Pass cruise stems from the broader shift to remote working since the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We are in the midst of a massive transformation in how, what and where we do our work,” Diane Swonk, KPMG’s chief economist, told CNBC Travel. “It’s not possible to put the work-from-home genie back in the bottle. Companies that try to do it too aggressively lose much of their access to top talent and the diversity of their workforce artwork.”
Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady cruise ship in Liverpool, England.
Anthony Devlin | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images
Saverimuttu said most of the digital workers who booked the cruise are in their 50s and in full-time remote positions.
He said the idea for the program came directly from Branson himself, after learning that passengers were taking long journeys while working remotely on the company’s ships.
He attributed the program’s growing popularity to Branson’s “magic touch” for understanding today’s consumers.
“The response was really phenomenal. It really surprised us,” he said. “But you know, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised because that was one of Richard’s ideas.”
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